Wire-fence machine



J. A. HOLMQUIST. WIRE FENCE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.\22, 1920.

Patented May 24, 1921.

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FIBI

INVENTOR J. A. HOLMQUIST.

WIRE FENCE MACHINE APPLICATION HLEDMAR.22 I920.

' Patented May 24, 1921.

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INVENTOR J. A. HOLM'QU|ST. WIRE FENCE meme. APPLICATION FILEAD MARRZ22I, 9 20- Patented May 24, 1921..-

a SHEETS-SH'EET a nn Ur.

WITNESSES INVENTOI UNITED STATES rarsnr orrlcsf JOHN A. nomvron'rs r, or. woonnawn, PENNSYLVANIA.

wIRE FENCE MACHINE.

the Denning machine and exemplified in the Denning Patents, Nos. 816,538 and 900390. The characteristic of the Denning machine is that in it both strand-wireieedand staywire feed are vcontinuous, and the fence-- forming instrumentalities act upon the wire under that fundamental condition.

' In the operation of the Denning machine, the ends of the stay wires are coiled about the strand wireswhile thestrandwires are advancing in continuous progress through the machine; and, given the instrumentali ties illustrated in the patents named, it is a practical requisite that there be, during the coiling operation, no greater relative movement of the coiler longitudinally, of the strand wire, than such as to allow for the gradual elongation of the coil as it is being 7 formed. Inasmuch as therate of develop ment of the coil longitudinally of the strand wire is relatively slow,--slowe1 by :Ear than a reasonable rate of strand-w1refeedthe typical Denning machine is equipped withflying co1lers,co1lers that advance and recede in the line of strand-wire'advance and perform their essentialcoiling operation while advancing at equal speed with the strand wire--or, rather, to speak with minute curacy, at a speed slightly less than strand wire speed, the margin of'difterence being due to the factor already mentioned: namely,"

the growth of the coil along the strand wire. In the machine of the Bates type (see Bates Patent No. 577,639), a machine 1.0 which the Denning stands contrasted in that strand-wire feed and stay-wire feed are in the Bates machine intermittent, there had been developedlalready, before Denning inventedrhis continuous-feed machine, the idea of imposing on the strand. .wires tension from a crimping drum 7 rotating continuously and, at uniform speed, but at the same time attaining intermittent movement of the strand wires through the coilers, by inter- ,posing between, the coilers and crimping Specificatioirof Letters Patent. Patented pl 24 1921. Application filed March 22, 1920. Serial No. 367,704. i I

drum what is called a take-up device, a

device which intermittently develops and allows to diminish again a loop or bight in the advancing wire. The efl'e'ct is that while at one portion of their path of advance I employ this take-up device, in order to bring'the strand wires intermittently to rest (or substantially'so) in'the coilers, and the H first'feature of my present invention has to do with improvements in the take-up device.

In the'accompanyin'g drawings, Figure I shows in side elevation the fence machine of myp-resent invention; Fig. II is a view in transverseverti'cal section, and to a larger scale, showing those instrumentalities where in invention is found; and Fig. III is a plan view of the table of-the machine showing,

certain of the stay-handling instrumentali ties. I v I i The take-up device of the Bates & Cooke-r patent cited is in Fig III of the drawings lllustrated in situ and in Fig. 5 is'shown dissected out from the other machine-parts.

It consists essentially 10f three rollers,(a a 0;) arranged in succession, "longitudt na-lly of strand-wire feed, the two end rollers' oftheflsuccession being stationary and being arranged on one side of the path of strand-wire advance and the intermediate roller of the succession being arranged on the opposite side of the path and being reciprocatoryin a transverse direction, to alternately develop and release the loop or bight. This take-up device is incorporated in the machine of Letters Patent No. 1,082,697, granted. on my application December 30, 1913. I now improve upon this take-up device, and, by rearrangement of the relative position of the parts, dispense with the two stationary rollers of the Bates Cocker take-up, retaining. onlyfthe reciprocatory roller. I

f The machine as shownin-side elevation in Fig. I includes, carried in a suitable frame,

coilers 1, crimpingdrum 2, andaHtake-up device consisting essentially of a'bight-forming roller 3. The dotted line 0/, indicates the path of the strand-wires through the machine, and the arrow points upon this line indicate the direction of advance. The crimping drum 2 is, by suitable driving connections from the main driving shaft 4 of the machine, rotated, in direction (as shown in Fig. I) the reverse of clockwise. It will be understood that there is a succession of strand wires advancing in parallel paths through the machine (in Fig. III the succession of coilers 1 is shown, and through each it will be understood a strand wire is rising vertically) that they are drawn through the machine by means of the rotating crimping drum 2 which, gripping them, exerts tension upon them; and that the succession of parallel strand wires is united into an integrated fence by stay wires which at intervals span the spaces between adjacent strand wires, and which are applied as the strand wires pass through the coilers 1. In Fig. II the path of stay-wire feed is indicated by the arrow 6 and the 1 dotted line along which the arrow is d1- rected, and in Fig. III a succession of stay wires cut and ready for application to the strand wires is indicated by the letter 6.

Referring again to the Bates & Cooker patent (Fig. III) it will be observed that the strand wires advance in substantially direct line through the coilers and fromthe coilers to the crimping drum. Cont-rasted with this arrangement, the strand wires in my machine advancing from the coilers, are turned abruptly aside over roller 3, and pass thence to the crimping drum in a direction approximately at right angles to that in which they emerge from the coilers. Again, in the Bates & Cooker arrangement, the reciprocation of roller a is in a direction transverse to the line of advance of the strand wires from the coilers; but in my machine the reciprocation of the roller 3 7 is in a direction parallel to the path of strand-wire advance from the coilers 1. In consequence, the strand wires advancing from the coilers meet roller 3 without deflection, and throughout all the range of reciprocation of roller 3 this straight-line advance of the strand wires is not disturbed. Delimiting rolls such as Bates & Cooker employ are dispensed with; one branch of the bight (that between the coilers and roller 3) lengthens and shortens but the wire there has no lateral swing; the other branch (that between roller 3 and crimping drum) lengthens and shortens, and incidentally the wire swings laterally. The points where the advancing strand wires meet the surface of the crimping drum are manifestly shifting points; but that, as will be understood, is not a matter to cause difficulty for the engineer, since this shifting occurs with determined periodicity.

Such motion as has been described. is imparted to roller 3 by idly mounting it at itsopposite ends in pillow blocks 5 (Fig.

II), and arranging these pillow blocks in slideways 6. There are two slideways, arranged one on either side of the machine; they are conveniently formed in or carried by the machine frame and are of course so positioned as to afford reciprocation of the roller in the relative direction already dofined. The pillow blocks 5 are carried on pitmans 7, and these in turn are pivoted to crank arms 8 borne by a shaft 9, which shaft 9 is driven from the power shaft 4 already mentioned. It will be understood that shaft 9 extends across the machine from side to side, and that crank arms 8 and pitmans 7 are duplicated on either side of the machine.

Rotation of shaft 9 will by these instrumentalities effect rise and fall of the bightforming roller 3, and the periodicity of this rise and fall is, as will be understood, correlated to the operation of the stay-forming instrumentalities.

. The amplitude of the rise and fall of roller 3, and accordingly the degree of alter- V nate acceleration and retardation of strandwire feed through the coilers, may be varied by varying the effective length of crank the coilers, and it is desirable to have the coilers out of the way while the stay wires are being brought to position; then, when the stay wires are in position, the coilers advance, engage them, and coil their ends about the strand wires.

In the typical Denning machine, two motions were required of the coilers; one, that they rotate, and this rotation was a continuous one; and the other that they be flying coilers-that is to say, that they advance during the coiling operation, at substantially uniform speed with the advanclng strand wire, and then retract again. To meet these requirements, the Denning coilers were/made telescopic; one portion havmg no motion longitudinally of the wires and serving to communicate rotation, the other portion being longitudinally reciprocable and imparting to the coilers the fl ing feature. Now, with the take-up device just described added to the machine, the rate of advance of the strand wires through the coilers at the time of coiling may be diminished to any desired degree, even to zero, and accordingly no other or further reciprocation of the coilers is required than suchias will be sufiicient to carry them out of, the way in the intervals of their inaction, and when, the, stay are being broughtto "positions 7 A word more should be said. about this movement of the strand wires during the coiling operation and its effect upon coiler wires.

reciprocation. .As has been"said,ritv is ad vantageous that the speed-iof strand-wire advance be slightly greater than. that of,

coiler advance (to allow forelongationof the coil as-it is produced), and if strandwire feed be diminished tothat minimum,

then of course the coilers will during the coiling operation have no longitudinal motion, but only that of rotation. And wlth such anadjustment no other or widerrange' of coilermovement is required than is. sufli cient to afford the periodic clearance with respect to. stay-wire placement, already alluded to. But it is not a limitation upon range of reciprocation to afford clearance for Stay-wire placement. ul ractically, I

find it desirable to impose upon the, coilers; afixed range of reciprocation, and then'to adjust the throw of roller 3 accordingly, I find that, with the take-up device present in the machine, a range of longitudinal movement of. the coilers of five-eighths of an inch, will suffice for all practical purposes. f

Having so reduced the range of coiler movement, it is no longer necessary to-niake in a bar 10 which extends across the machine from side to side. This bar 10 is carried by links 11 pivoted to it at either end upon levers 12, and to these levers is imparted a periodic swing such as to cause the desired longitudinal movement of the coilers, by means of eccentrics 13 upon shaft 9, upon which the levers with their sustained parts rest by gravity.

Shaft 9, it will be noted, is conveniently the same shaft which through crank arms 8 imparts reciprocation to roller 3. It will be seen that, with each turning of shaft 9, roller 3 makes one complete reciprocatlon and the battery of coilers 1 also makes one complete reciprocation; and it will be understood that, by suitable relative arrangement of crank arm 8 and eccentric 13 upon shaft 9,, proper correlationof the movements of these. twogparts may be effected. V

:In consequence of the relatively limited; range of. coiler reciprocation now required,

I amableto impose upon the coilers, reciprocable though theyare, continuous rotationfrom. a power shaft rotatingin stationary bearings. The bar lOis provided at its ends with brackets or flanges 14, and to these flanges the links ll'may conveniently be pivoted. Between the opposite flanges lafis journaled a shaft 15, and this shaft 15 may be rotated through sprocket connections .16

withan adjacent. shaft, conveniently the main drivingshaft 4 of the machine, which is advantageously on the same. level with it. Thegessential feature isthat a sprocket drive from a-fixed; drive shaft will readily permit the driven shaft to range through a five-- eighth-inch swing in a direction transverse to aline connecting the centers of the two shafts, V

A further feature of invention concerns thegearing through which the coilers are rotated. Reference to the Denning Patent,

No. 816538 (Fig. 10), will show the coilers driven by beveled gearing, and in actual construction the shaft (-134) throughowhich the coilers are driven extends across the path.

of direct. feed of strand wires to coilers. The Denning drawings, Fig. 3, Patent 816,538, show avoidance'of this, but this method of avoidance has not been carried into practice. ,Withthe driving shaft extending across the axial line of the coilers, it is necessary that the strand-wires in their approach to the coilers shall follow a path which departs from the axial line, and, in the Denning machine, asit has hitherto been built and used, the strand-wires in approach tothe coilers. rubj upon the surface of this gear *shaftp Through continued use the shaftso rubbed upon is worn away; the effect on the? wire toois bad-,for deflection under tension and the progressively "advancmg bend over a r1g1d surface tends to break and loosen the galvanized coating.

I eliminate this difliculty. I dispense with the beveled-gear drive of the Denning patent, and employ instead a worm-gear drive. In consequence, it becomes possible to arrange the driving shaft 15 of the gearing (the shaft driven from shaft 4: by sprocket chains, as already explained) to one side of the axial line of the coilers. The shaft 15 is provided with a worm and each coiler is provided with a worm-engaging pinion 16. The wires, as clearly shown in Fig. II, approach the coilers in axial line, and the tension upon the strand wires is direct, from roller 3 to sheaves 17 (see Fig. I).

The particular features of structure in which my invention resides, it will be understood, are not necessarily limited in applicability to machines of the Denning type,

much less to the specific structure with whichbe present, the form of the presentation is irrelevant.

I claim as my invention:

? 1. In a Wire-fence machine, the combination of a plurality of parallel coilers, a takeup roller arrangedtransversely of said coilers and beyond the delivery ends thereof, and reciprocable in the direction of the longitudinal extent of said coilers, and means for drawing strand Wires through said coilers and over said roller, subs tantially as described.

2. In a Wire-fence machine, the combination of a plurality of parallel coilers, a takeup roller arranged transversely of said coil-' ers and beyond thedelivery ends thereof and tangent to the prolonged axes of said coilers, and'reciprocable in the direction of the longitudinal extent of said coilers, and means for drawing strand wires through said coilers and over said roller, substantially as described.

3. In a wire-fence machine, the combination of a plurality of longitudinally reciprocable parallel coilers, a take-up roller ar-' ranged transversely of said coilers'and beyond the delivery ends thereof and recip- 35 rocable in the direction of the longitudinal extent of said coilers, means for reciprocating said coilers and said roller in correlation each to the other, and means for drawing strand wires through said coilers and over said roller, substantially as described.

4. In a wire-fence machine, the combination of a plurality of longitudinally reciprocable parallel coilers, a take-up roller arranged transversely of saidcoilers and beyond the delivery ends thereof and reciprocable in the direction of the longitudinal and means for'varying the ranges of recip rocation of coilers and roller, the one relative to the other, substantially as described. 5. In a wire-fence machine,the combination of a reciprocable bar, a succession of coilers rotatably mounted in said bar with axestransverse to the length of said bar and parallel one toanother, a shaft rotatably mounted in said bar, means for reciprocating said bar, means for imparting continuous rotation to said shaft while said bar reciprocates," and means for imparting rotation from said shaft to said coilers, substantially as described.

6; Ina wire-fence machine, the combina-' tion of a reciprocable bar, a succession of coilers rotatably mounted in said bar with axes transverse to the length of said bar and parallel one to another, a shaft rotatably mounted in said bar, means for imparting continuous rotation to said shaft while said bar reciprocates, and worm gear connection between saidshaft'and said coilers, substantially as described.

7. In a wire-fence machine, the combina tion of a reciprocable head bearing a rotatable coiler, a rotating shaft adjacent which said reciprocable 'head is arranged, and coiler-rotating means including a sprocket drive extending from said shaft to said head and in a direction transverse to the line of reciprocation of said head, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set O. E. GRESSLY. 

